Heaven's Will

Chapter 13

Mafumafu sat on the floor in his room, his back against the wall and his knees pulled to his chest. He was supposed to be asleep right now, but no matter how many times he laid down and tried to go to sleep it wouldn't work. His mind was racing with thoughts about what occurred earlier that day. After finding out that Soraru and Sol- or should he be calling him Luz now? That seemed too weird, but it was true, wasn't it? Either way, after finding out the two of them were gods, Mafumafu was so scared he couldn't do anything but run. He ran all the way back to the palace, which took so much energy he nearly collapsed when he finally stopped. He didn't tell anyone why he returned early. Luckily, his parents didn't ask.

  A single candle flickered by his feet. It cast a soft orange glow over the surrounding area, making the shadows on the walls look dark and dramatic. Mafumafu curled in on himself more, resting his forehead on his knees. The one time he managed to make friends and they turned out to be gods. How sad was that? Though, Mafumafu had to admit he still wanted to be around them. Even if they were powerful deities that could very easily kill him at any moment... Ah, well, maybe not. But they've never done anything to hurt me, Mafumafu thought. In fact, they've always been really nice to me. Sol-san, er... Luz-san? He always visits me every day so I'm never lonely. And Soraru-san tells me fun stories and teaches me about so many things I would've never known otherwise.

  Mafumafu sighed. "I wish I wasn't such a pathetic person. If I was just a little braver or stronger, maybe I could spend more time with them."

  He mulled over what to do about this revelation for a long time. He could hear the sound of the rain hitting his windows in his otherwise silent room. Mafumafu found the noise relaxing, but at the same time it made him a little sad. Eventually, he ended up falling asleep right where he sat.

The hall leading to the Sky Ward was roaring with wind. Urata frowned as he pushed forward, eventually reaching the door to the Ward. He banged on the heavy wooden doors, hoping that his knocking would be loud enough to get through the wind.

      "Hey, Soraru-kun, open up," Urata shouted.

  There wasn't a response, but this wasn't surprising. Soraru had been holed up in the Sky Ward ever since he returned from the Springtime Celebration. Luz had filled everyone in on what happened, and there were mixed reactions among the gods. Personally, Urata felt bad for Soraru. He knew how hard the sky god had been working just to make a good impression on Mafumafu. No doubt Soraru was taking what happened pretty badly. But, at the same time, Urata knew nothing was going to change if all Soraru did was sit around and mope for all eternity. The only thing he'd accomplish by doing that would be making a new ocean.

      "I know you can hear me, Soraru-kun. So, open the door," Urata said.

  The door opened slightly, before immediately slamming closed with a strong gust of wind. Urata sighed in annoyance. He turned to the two people standing behind him.

      "Alright, so obviously Soraru-kun isn't in the mood to talk right now," Urata said. "What now?"

      "Maybe we can try talking to Mafu-kun," Sakata suggested.

  He knew better than anyone that if there was an issue between people they needed to work it out with each other.

      "I think we'll have to wait a bit before we talk to Mafu-kun. He's probably asleep right now, since it's the middle of the night," Urata pointed out.

      "Then what else are we supposed to do?" Amatsuki asked.

  All three of them thought about this for a few minutes. This was a very difficult situation, and they didn't have much experience in dealing with matters like these. They needed someone who knew what to do.